Palin: 'Shame' Booker backed down

Sarah Palin is applauding Cory Booker’s criticism of the Obama campaign’s attacks on Mitt Romney’s record at Bain Capital as “candid,” adding that it was a “shame” that the Democratic mayor retreated from his initial remarks that have touched off a firestorm.

“It was a shame to see Cory kind of back down from what his answer was, which was so candid,” Palin told Sean Hannity of Fox News on Monday.

“He was the antithesis of the typical politician because he didn’t do this,” the former Alaska governor continued — pausing to lick her index finger and wave it up in the air — “before he spewed his answer to David Gregory.”

But the Newark mayor and Obama surrogate quickly released a YouTube video walking back his remarks, as he tried to clarify that he believes President Barack Obama is entitled to attack Romney’s private-equity background.

Palin on Monday noted that Booker’s original comments had revealed the president’s seriously flawed understanding of the free-market system.

“[Obama] will condemn private equity because he doesn’t understand the benefits of private equity in job creation,” she said. “So it’s a shame that Cory backed down a little bit from that. But I think we saw what his true feelings were. He articulated